It is important that teachers have an understanding of the context of their children in order to determine which methods will be the most effective and what Life Skills content will be most appropriate for each particular class of children.
The selection of Life Skills content requires the Foundation Phase teacher to be aware of the backgrounds of his/her children. In today’s world, this is a challenge for teachers because children come from such varied backgrounds and experiences.
It is still important, however, for teachers to create experiences for children that will make learning relevant by drawing on and making links to what children may already have experienced in their own social contexts. Experience within the classroom is linked …show more content…
1. Read the about Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories in Appendix A. While you are reading highlight in the text the words or phrases that you think relate to children constructing new knowledge.
2. Discuss what you have read with your partner. In our comment on this activity we have indicated some of the words that we highlighted when we read about Piaget and Vygotsky. Compare what you discussed about Piaget and Vygotsky with what we thought. Talk about why you agree or disagree with us. You can make notes here.
3. Now take a few minutes to think about your response to Question 4b in Activity 1. How do you think you could adapt the HOW of the Beginning Knowledge lesson you wrote about in Activity 1, to include elements of constructivism?
4. What impact do you think constructivism could have on the way in which you approach the teaching and learning of Life Skills?
An awareness of context and the basic principles of constructivism support the teaching and learning process because there is then a balance between the experiences of the learner and the experiences created in the classroom. The type of experience the teacher creates is key because action and spoken language are at the heart of knowledge construction. We therefore need to provide our children with practical activities wherever possible and allow children the time to discuss their actions and findings with their peers …show more content…
Development is a result of involvement in activities with others, all of which have a social, cultural and historical starting point. For Vygotsky social interaction and cultural influences promote learning in young children.
Some of the key terms that Vygotsky draws on in his explanation of the learning process are the zone of proximal development, mediation and language.
According to Vygotsky we need to be aware of what the learner has already learned and also what they are in the process of learning. The zone of proximal development is where a learner can do more with the help of an adult through mediation than they can do on their own, as shown below:
… … …
Mediation is the interactions and communications between two or more people where the mediator is somebody more knowledgeable than the learner being mediated. Language is important in the learning process and Vygotsky linked language and thought because language development leads to thought. But children can only develop skill in language, as well as develop cognitively, by experiencing the teacher modelling the language successfully and then internalising what they see (Smith, Dockrell & Tomlinson,
The selection of Life Skills content requires the Foundation Phase teacher to be aware of the backgrounds of his/her children. In today’s world, this is a challenge for teachers because children come from such varied backgrounds and experiences.
It is still important, however, for teachers to create experiences for children that will make learning relevant by drawing on and making links to what children may already have experienced in their own social contexts. Experience within the classroom is linked …show more content…
1. Read the about Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories in Appendix A. While you are reading highlight in the text the words or phrases that you think relate to children constructing new knowledge.
2. Discuss what you have read with your partner. In our comment on this activity we have indicated some of the words that we highlighted when we read about Piaget and Vygotsky. Compare what you discussed about Piaget and Vygotsky with what we thought. Talk about why you agree or disagree with us. You can make notes here.
3. Now take a few minutes to think about your response to Question 4b in Activity 1. How do you think you could adapt the HOW of the Beginning Knowledge lesson you wrote about in Activity 1, to include elements of constructivism?
4. What impact do you think constructivism could have on the way in which you approach the teaching and learning of Life Skills?
An awareness of context and the basic principles of constructivism support the teaching and learning process because there is then a balance between the experiences of the learner and the experiences created in the classroom. The type of experience the teacher creates is key because action and spoken language are at the heart of knowledge construction. We therefore need to provide our children with practical activities wherever possible and allow children the time to discuss their actions and findings with their peers …show more content…
Development is a result of involvement in activities with others, all of which have a social, cultural and historical starting point. For Vygotsky social interaction and cultural influences promote learning in young children.
Some of the key terms that Vygotsky draws on in his explanation of the learning process are the zone of proximal development, mediation and language.
According to Vygotsky we need to be aware of what the learner has already learned and also what they are in the process of learning. The zone of proximal development is where a learner can do more with the help of an adult through mediation than they can do on their own, as shown below:
… … …
Mediation is the interactions and communications between two or more people where the mediator is somebody more knowledgeable than the learner being mediated. Language is important in the learning process and Vygotsky linked language and thought because language development leads to thought. But children can only develop skill in language, as well as develop cognitively, by experiencing the teacher modelling the language successfully and then internalising what they see (Smith, Dockrell & Tomlinson,